The exception, jurisdiction by jurisdiction.

A status fight, not a labor fight.

The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery "except as a punishment for crime." The network works to remove that exception from every constitution that carries it, and to enforce the removal where it has been won.

Slavery is a status: the powers of ownership exercised over a person. That is the definition the United States accepted in the 1926 Slavery Convention. Pay does not cure it. A statute does not reach it. Only an amendment reaches the clause, and only an enforceable amendment changes the practice.

The Twelve Statements · Three terms · The powers

The exception stands. The amendment is introduced.

H.J. Res. 216 and S.J. Res. 214, the Abolition Amendment, were introduced in the 119th Congress on September 15, 2026. Rep. Nikema Williams introduced the House resolution with 59 original cosponsors. Sen. Jeff Merkley introduced the Senate resolution with Sen. Cory Booker and eleven others. Both were referred to the Judiciary Committees.

Ratification takes two-thirds of each chamber and three-fourths of the states.

The federal entry · The bill

8 states removed the exception.

• 2018 Colorado
• 2020 Nebraska
• 2020 Utah
• 2022 Alabama
• 2022 Oregon
• 2022 Tennessee
• 2022 Vermont
• 2024 Nevada

Colorado's first attempt, Amendment T, fell short in November 2016. Amendment A passed in 2018. California's Proposition 6 failed in 2024.

These states are in the enforcement phase. A clean text has not ended the practice on its own.

Source text One more state stands on the same line. Rhode Island never wrote the exception. Its constitution has prohibited slavery since 1843 and is silent on involuntary servitude. That makes nine states in the enforcement phase. The federal exception still applies in all nine.

More than twenty states are organized.

The 19 amendment campaigns listed on the tracker, grouped by what each constitution says today. The tracker is being brought up to date.

4 permit slavery and involuntary servitude as punishment

Arkansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Wisconsin

7 permit involuntary servitude as punishment

California, Georgia, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio

8 are silent and defer to the Thirteenth Amendment

District of Columbia, Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia

Not every state is on the tracker. The map shows the constitutional text of all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the territories.

Two layers. One belongs to Congress.

A territory may amend its own constitution where it has one. The federal exception applies there by act of Congress, and only Congress can remove it.

Puerto Rico carries the exception in Article II, Section 12. The campaign to remove it opened March 22, 2026, on el Día de la Abolición de la Esclavitud. On June 22, 2026 the network's scorecard went to the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization.

The Puerto Rico record

From amendment to enforcement.

Established holding Mortis v. Polis, Denver District Court, February 13, 2026. The court held the Colorado Department of Corrections' coercive labor practices unconstitutional under the state constitution as amended in 2018. It is a trial court ruling.

Source text Colorado removed its exception in 2018. The first order came in 2026. Alabama and Colorado both pleaded immunity against their own amendments.

Audit finding The network has published audit findings for New Jersey and Minnesota. Each finding is reported on its own axis and never blended. Minnesota's custody finding is provisional.

Source text The plea disclosure petition was filed with the New Jersey Supreme Court Criminal Practice Committee on April 17, 2026.

Enforcement in full · The audits and the scores · The New Jersey record · Badges and incidents

Stated plainly.

• The 1926 definition is treaty law the United States accepted. It is almost certainly not self-executing in United States courts. It carries definitional weight, not a cause of action.
• 13 tracker entries carry a 2025 target year that has passed. The tracker is being brought up to date.
• The plea disclosure audit has not been run for Minnesota. The Minnesota custody finding awaits a lived record.
• The White Pages is coming soon. It is in development and review and has not been released.

Newest first.

• Sept. 18, 2026 New Jersey findings released.
• Sept. 15, 2026 The federal Abolition Amendment is reintroduced.
• June 22, 2026 Puerto Rico scorecard submitted to the United Nations.
• April 17, 2026 New Jersey plea disclosure petition filed.
• Feb. 13, 2026 Mortis v. Polis decided.

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